PODCAST BLOG

What Cassandra Poppe and her family developed to help Fulton re-integrate after being severely burned in a homestead accident ... the birth of 'burn cards' ... and how you can help:

"That day finally came but brought with it new challenges; the biggest being that of socially reintegrating Fulton into society in a way that both gave him confidence and made him feel less of an oddity. And indeed, this was a challenge. For while Fulton’s face, ravaged by fire and covered in skin grafts, was still beautiful to those who love him, most people who encountered him at the store, restaurants and playground simply saw his scars. The patches of baldness on his head. His missing ears.We were partially prepared for the stares and the comments that came his way. “I was burned,” was something Fulton said several times a day when we went out into public, but we noticed that so much was left unsaid. Parents of curious children would whisk their children away, embarrassed by their children’s reactions and frequently express this embarrassment by being overly harsh with them.We felt bad for Fulton, still too young to understand why people seemed to avoid him, or why children seemed to get into trouble just for asking questions. We felt bad for the children, who in most cases meant no harm but were simply naturally curious about another child who looked drastically different from themselves.And we also felt bad for the parents, who had no idea they were to be suddenly faced with having to deal with the unpredictable behavior of their own children. It was always so awkward, and we soon dreaded leaving the house.Then one day, after a particularly painful encounter, Fulton tearfully asked why a certain boy treated him cruelly. “They just don’t know what happened to me,” he lamented. And from that moment, the idea of Fulton’s burn cards was born." ...learn more by clicking the image below!